“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:2

Southern slaveholders branded their slaves, like cattle, to mark them as personal property. The Nazis tattooed Jews in concentration camps with serial numbers, to mark them for death. And Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, sears the consciences of kirkers to accept heinous acts as normal.

However, unlike a brand or tattoo, it doesn’t happen at one moment. It’s a process of erosion. He gradually conditions you. But ultimately the final product looks the same — a deadened conscience that fails to distinguish right from wrong. It can’t even feel shock.

Now, please note that this does not mean that all of his followers cannot ever distinguish right from wrong. They are not all sociopaths. He only conditions them at certain points, such as the marriage of serial pedophile Steven Sitler to New Saint Andrews College graduate Katie Travis.

Mr. Wilson has never denied that, from the beginning, he and Ed Iverson encouraged this union. Indeed, when Rod Dreher asked him to explain it, Mr. Wilson changed the subject. He knows this marriage is indefensible. He understands that he committed an unconscionable deed. And even he appreciates silence at times. So he said nothing.

But he was busy four years ago — busy normalizing pedophilia — which required seared consciences. Note the wedding announcement in the weekly bulletin. He placed it there with all the other wedding announcements, as though it’s just another nuptial. No big deal. Perfectly normal. Kirkers saw the announcement every week, for months. And kirkers prayed out loud for God to bless the union, like it was just another prayer request. But it wasn’t. He was conditioning you. He was searing your conscience.

Consider “Dave,” for example. He defends the marriage of convicted child molester Steven Sitler to this graduate of New Saint Andrews College, as something very ordinary:

Dave says:
September 29, 2015 at 11:19 pm

Where is the Scandal? . . . Rod obviously did not contact his whipping boy, Wilson, because if he had done so he would not have linked to the links he did and he would have put some truth into the story instead of the falsehoods presented here. Over half of the links go to anonymous authored web sites that are to even the most causal [sic] observer attack web sites. Rod linked to these sites just as others on the web have done without actually discovering the author and ascertaining the individual’s ability to tell the truth. These sites are anonymous to hide the identity of the writer, because the articles are carefully intertwined giving a touch of truth and a shovel full of lies. This article and links is the same as using a National Enquirer story as the basis for a doctoral thesis.

There is no scandal in Moscow. There are some people, who hate God, who wish there to be scandals and they push at Wilson and Christ Church every chance they get. There is no fire in this situation and if there were a problem, Sitler would be back in the slammer. If there were a problem, the judge would not have recommended Sitler get married. If there were a problem, the church would have addressed it already. . . .

Dave repeats talking points like a parrot. Falsehoods don’t bother him and documented facts don’t budge him. He just regurgitates words he heard from Mr. Wilson. But when Rod Dreher asked Dave to produce evidence that contradicts Rod’s story, Dave couldn’t. For all his caterwauling about “lies,” he couldn’t point to one. Yet he continued to wail. Mr. Wilson has conditioned Dave to accept this heinous union. Dave has a seared conscience.

Again, this didn’t happen overnight. It took time. Dave saw the wedding announcement every week. For months. Dave prayed for Sitler and Katie Travis every week. For months. And now Dave believes it’s perfectly normal for a serial pedophile to marry a young woman, father a child by her, and feel sexually stimulated by that child. Dave cannot see anything wrong with it. Dave has a seared conscience.

Notice Dave’s arguments: “If there were a problem, Sitler would be back in the slammer. If there were a problem, the judge would not have recommended Sitler get married. If there were a problem, the church would have addressed it already.”

But Dave is wrong. Judge Stegner cannot throw Sitler in the slammer unless he violates probation, and Sitler’s admission that he had contact with his son resulting in sexual stimulation does not violate his probation. Further, Judge Stegner never recommended that Sitler get married. Mr. Wilson implies that Stegner recommended this marriage — but he never says it (at least on his blog). Listen to Judge Stegner at 49:46–52:48. He does not recommend this marriage. He concedes to it because he had two choices: Allow the marriage to happen as scheduled or delay it. And since no law in Idaho prohibits the marriage, he allowed it for convenience’ sake. But Mr. Wilson wants you to think otherwise, as Dave does, because he needs your conscience seared.

Then Dave draws a perfect circle: “If there were a problem, the church would have addressed it already.” By “the church,” Dave means “the elders” — the very men who created the problem that Dave does not see. Don’t forget that this marriage would not have happened if Mr. Wilson and Iverson did not introduce young Katie to the pedophile. The Kirk elders created the problem and they specifically prayed for the problem to worsen — they prayed for the pedophile to sire children. Watch the video at 8:25. They explicitly beseech heaven for this calamity to befall Katie Travis — and they make it all appear so normal.

This is the essence of Mr. Wilson’s ministry. He invokes real-life curses on innocent people, such as Katie Travis, and he absolves himself of any responsibility for their misery. It’s their fault. They brought it on themselves. After all, he wrote, “Katie and her family had all the facts when she agreed to marry Steven.” And he needs you to accept this as normal — as ordinary — even though he knows it is not. So he conditions you. He sears your conscience.

But Dave is not completely gone. In a different thread I asked him to answer one question: Would Dave trust Steven Sitler to babysit his two-year-old child? Dave had the decency not to answer the question, because the answer is no. Of course he wouldn’t trust Steven Sitler to babysit his child.

Now Dave and all the other kirkers who defend this union should answer another question: If they would not trust Sitler to babysit their child, then why would they trust the men who arranged the heinous marriage and specifically prayed for this incomprehensible living situation to take place?

The answer to this question should tell you exactly how much conscience you have left.